Birth of Deca
by TheOneChild99
Summary: Koschei's fall from grace and the birth of The Master. Theta, not yet known as The Doctor, witnessed the execution of his friend and his sister at the hands of this mad man. Yet he couldn't help but forgive him. And that would be his downfall. MasterxOC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

The large crowd of several dozen young students parted as Theta was carried away by two adult Time Lords, falling in and out of consciousness.

" How long was that!? That had to be a record!" A young student asked another.

" That was nine minutes!"

The dozens of eight year old students stared off in horror and wonder as Theta was removed from the hall.

The students stared in silent amazement. Students usually lasted a few minutes, but nine minutes was unheard of. Even those who had gone mad didn't even last that long. This made them wonder what had happened to Theta.

Koschei looked at the door, his friend now gone. Koschei just hoped Theta hadn't gone mad. Students who stared into the Untempered Schism were either inspired, ran away, or went mad. Koschei wasn't sure what happened to those who had gone mad.

" Koschei." A Time Lord called, as if nothing happened. Koschei hesitantly came down from the stairs, his heart skipping a beat. But he knew that he would become a Time Lord. He wasn't going to run away, he was sure. He wasn't going to become a soldier like his father, he assured himself.

Two Time Lords dressed in traditional robes led him through a door that led outside. The Time Lords moved back, leaving only Koschei and the Untempered Schism, a plaque baring the Seal of Rassilon before it.

" Say the words." One of the Time Lords reminded Koschei.

Koschei instinctively repeated the words he had uttered hundreds of times.

" I swear to protect the ancient Law of Gallifrey with all my might and brain. I will to the end of my days, with justice and with honor temper my actions and my thoughts."

His practiced words rolled off the tongue perfectly and without stutter, almost as if he knew the true gravity of what he was saying.

Koschei, who would eventually be known by all including himself as The Master, stared into the endless and empty, yet cluttered iris of the Vortex.

It shone a dim light, just enough for Koschei to see only the Schism. The rest of the rooom, no, the universe, or maybe even all existence as Koschei knew it was swallowed in darkness, an infinite space filled with nothingness. Yet Koschei didn't feel alone.

His entire body, and soon, his entire being relaxed, slipping into an almost sleeping state, barely able to take it in, but nevertheless understanding all that was happening, that ever happened, and that would ever happen.

In a brief reoccurrence of conscious thought, he felt as if he was going mad. Maybe this was just as one felt as they were staring into the Untempered Schism. He somehow felt inspired and mad at the same time.

The entire universe, and every other thing that existed and didn't, rolled into a single form, one that Koschei looked upon, but also was. The entirety of existence was understood by him, yet he marveled at it.

He saw two lights at each end of the universe collide into each other, forming the seeds for billions of possibilities and realities.

In the middle of it all was Koschei, sitting in the birth place of existence as he saw mankind, as well as all other life forms in the universe, build and destroy their own respective civilizations millions and billions of times over, the beginning and end of each reality passing by and coming back like a boomerang, fast yet steady, without missing a single mark or digit, lives of countless organisms following the code of all life exactly. Everything planned out, yet so spontaneous, as was life.

Countless meaningless lives starting and ending, only to start over again in the circle of life, each organism surviving only to live. But as each thing grew, the need for survival grew dimmer and smaller. Each thing soon living only for constructed ideas such as beauty, art, love, religion, and happiness. Such futile things, Koschei saw these as. Life forms needed only to survive for the sake of it. To live as to not die. That was the true essence of life, the ultimate evolution, as Koschei saw it. And what he saw was good.

The forms of all beings flew into a single eye, entire star systems blinking out, whole planets and solar systems disrupted and destroyed.

When one looks simply at another life and not into another life, Koschei thought, one rarely sees the true gravity of each passing moment and event that has no effect on them, yet effects others in such a massive way. To him, those were just stars in a sky, to someone else, that was an entire history full of lives and personality taken out, like it was nothing.

He then stared into the eye again, an eye that was knowledge. He grasped for it, wanting desperately to know what was on the other side. As he grabbed at it, silence approached him by all sides, and he was in complete darkness once more.

There was a small light in the middle of the pitch black, where he was, and one several yards across from him. In the other light he saw a much older man, one much like him, but with a title Koschei didn't recognise, yet it felt so familiar. This man was called the Master, though even Koschei did not know the significance of this at the time.

And then he disappeared, only to be replaced by the same man, but a different body. A body that was crushed under the weight of a machine, screaming, reaching out as his TARDIS was consumed in fire. Koschei didn't want to look any longer.

Kochei then glanced back at the eye once more, seeing, but not knowing it's knowledge. That's all that life was, knowledge, thought and matter. All matter was just a thought now. This whole thing was just a thought. All he had to do was wake up. Wake up.

" Wake up!"

He opened his eyes, frightened, but also calm.

" How long has it been?" Koschei asked the nearest Time Lord. He noticed that he didn't speak with his mouth, but he had spoken to the Time Lord with his mind, something he shouldn't have been able to do for years.

The Time Lord wore a horrified and marveled expression. One that saw something he never should have seen.

" Two hours."

Theta was now sitting lazily in the office of a Time Lord, not tired but bored, waiting for the professor to enter the room. Initiation really wasn't what he expected, even though he had been told exactly what would happen. He felt like a fool.

He heard the chatter and arguing of two people from outside the room, and assumed one of them was the Time Lord who's office he was escorted to. It was probably Koschei's turn with the Schism now. Theta wondered how he was doing. Out of all the people he knew, Theta thought Koschei would be the one most likely to be inspired by it.

Theta gazed at the large pictures of supposedly legendary Time Lords on the wall, recognizing none of them except one. His name was Rassilon. Theta knew close to nothing about the supposed hero Rassilon, and didn't care to learn more.

The Time Lord finally entered his own office, sitting down behind his desk, opposite from where Theta was sitting. Theta frowned.

" What am I here for?" Theta asked the centuries old man. The Time Lord let out a chuckle, which surprised Theta.

" What are you here for? Theta, the Time Lords have a rich and long history, one that involved centuries and millenniums of hard work and brilliance. But not once has a Galifreyan your age ever done what you just did. You just stared at the eye longer than most everyone your age has ever." There was a long silence. Theta asked him hesitantly.

" Did I go mad?"

" Do you feel mad."

" I don't know."

The Time Lord smiled.

" I don't think you are mad. I think you're just as brilliant as anyone else who's tried it." Theta silently stared at him for awhile, deep in thought.

" But you wouldn't have taken me here, sat me down, and talked to me like this if everything was perfectly fine, am I right."

The Time Lord wasn't smiling this time.

" You ran didn't you?

" What?" Theta asked, perplexed.

" I don't know what to do with you. You lasted longer than almost anyone else, yet you run away before you were truly finished. We could all tell that you could have held on at least a couple more minutes."

Theta stood up, his face red, outraged.

" What does it matter! It's just a few minutes! I don't even care! You can disqualify me or whatever you do. I'm out." Theta quickly went for the door.

" Just let me say one more thing."

" What?"

" Good luck." The Time Lord told him.

" With what?" Theta asked, turning back from the door.

" With the Academy. It will be a hard couple of centuries."

Author notes: So yeah, that's all! Tell me what you think. Did you like it? Did you hate it? Just post a review, and next chapter I will make a response to it in the authors notes! :)

By the way, for those who might not know, Theta is the Doctor. The Doctors real name isn't that, but it was his nickname on Gallifrey, and he wasn't called the Doctor yet, sooooo.. Anytime someone is to call him by his real name for whatever reason, I will show this [ ] in place of his real name.

Next chapter: Twelve years later.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Twelve Years Later.

Koschei checked the time again. Maybe he should have just talked to Theta instead of trying to surprise him. Whatever the case, Koschei was happy to be back home.

It had been twelve years since Koschei had last seen Theta, and he was sure they would be able to catch up at the Academy. Koschei had done some learning of his own while he was away, so he was allowed to skip the twelve years of training he missed at the academy.

Koschei gave a friendly smile to the maid, who smiled back, now wondering why he chose the kitchen of all places to meet up with his best friend.

A pretty, blonde young lady with dark green eyes then walked into the room, shocked to see Koschei there.

" Hey... You're.." She started, but then a huge smile overtook her face and she ran towards Koschei, giving him a loving hug. Koschei accepted it gratefully.

" You're back!" She exclaimed, getting off of Koschei.

" I've missed you as well, Thana." Koschei admitted. He hadn't seen the Doctor's sister since she was a little girl, five at the most, and now she was almost a grown woman.

" Where were you for so long? I thought I would see you at the Academy but-" She started, but Koschei interrupted her.

" Your father didn't tell you?"

" Tell me what?" She asked, a puzzled expression on her face Where had this man been for most of her life? How did she even remember him so well?

" It doesn't matter. I'm just so glad to be back. Where's Theta?"

" He'll be here soon. He's just running late from the Academy." Thana told him as they made their way out of the kitchen and into one of the small guest rooms.

The entire house, while nice, wasn't very modern compared to the advanced technology of the Time Lord civilization. While the Time Lords had advanced and amazing technology, almost all homes, including most places out of the Citadel were very modest. Since most advanced technology and efforts went into the Time Lords research, very little of this was used for luxury.

" I see. Well I'd be glad to meet everyone else again before he gets here." Koschei replied, sitting down on the small bed he was provided with.

" Koschei, um... I know your house was left to you after your parents.. But If you would like some company, you can stay here until we leave for the Academy." Thana offered timidly. Koschei smiled at this.

" Thank you. I'd be glad to, but honestly I'd rather have some time to myself after today." This confused Thana. Who had he been with for those twelve years?

Thana noticed Koschei's choice of clothing. He was wearing a black jacket that was way too long for him, black leather boots, and wore thick sun glasses, even though it wasn't very bright out. Perhaps he just wanted to look cool in front of them. She giggled at this thought.

" What?" He asked, grinning.

" Oh, nothing."

Koschei sighed, laying back on the bed.

" How has the Academy been for you?" Thana sighed as well.

" It's been okay. I can't even imagine going there for the next few hundred years though."

Koschei sat up, a now excited grin across his face.

" You would like more, wouldn't you? Your just like Theta was, an adventurous type. You want to explore and see everything." Thana was now pacing, looking at the floor.

" I guess. I never really thought about that. I usually spend most of my time in the Academy library. That's probably the farthest I'll ever be from home."

Thana chuckled.

" Theta says that he'll take a TARDIS and fly away from Gallifrey. Like that will ever happen."

Koschei thought about this for a minute.

" Where is your father?"

" Him? He's doing Time Lord business, he'll get here later tonight."

Koschei then got up and walked through the front door, going outside into the beautiful field of red grass, Gallifrey's two suns shining brilliantly in the sky, a faded maroon painted across it's entirety. Koschei's eyes momentarily glimmered with nostalgia. He hadn't really taken the time to enjoy this since he was last there, twelve years ago.

Koschei breathed in the heavy air, letting out an even heavier sigh. Koschei looked around, seeing a young man with black hair and dark green eyes, wearing a soft grey suit leaning against a barn door.

" Koschei!" The man exclaimed happily, walking quickly towards Koschei and gripping him in a heavy hug.

" It's nice to see you, Theta." Koschei told him, shaking his best friend that he hadn't seen in more than a decades hand once more.

Thana ran out into the field, smiling as she saw the two of them together again. Theta looked at Koschei, inspecting him. He couldn't have gone mad, otherwise he wouldn't have been there with them. Theta now knew what they did to Time Lords that went mad. Theta decided it was best to not ask Koschei where he had been all those years.

" Come inside. We have a lot to tell you about." Theta told him cheerfully, escorting his friend inside his house.

" You know, it's great having you back, Koschei. I really miss having someone to do my work for me."

Theta told Koschei. Koschei chuckled.

"Well, at least your honest."

Thana followed Koschei and Theta back into their home, through the kitchens, and down the hall into a small back garden.

" Is Braxiatel home?" Theta asked his sister, referring to their older brother, who was almost an Academy graduate.

" Where else would he be?"

" What do you mean?" Koschei and Theta seemed to ask simultaneously.

" No one told you two? Braxiatel was temporarily put into a wheelchair after trying to apprehend some rebels a few weeks back, so he's had to stay home." Thana explained.

" I see." Theta said.

" What do you mean? What rebels?" Koschei asked. Theta and Thana gave him a curious look.

" Where the hell have you been for twelve years?" Thana asked him, a worried expression on her and Theta's faces.

Koschei's interested expression turned into one of discomfort.

" That's irrelevant. Do these rebels have to do with the rebels that attacked the council back then?"

" Yes. Father will explain when he gets here." Thana assured Koschei.

" I don't work with the Time Lords, so I don't know all of the details." Theta explained.

" Theta! Koschei? Is that you?" A young man in a wheelchair asked as he approached the three of them.

" Hey, little brother. How's the Academy been treating you since we last met?"

" It's alright, I guess."

" I was never one for academics either. I'm sure you'll pass your classes though, you're a smart kid when you're not goofing off." Braxiatel commented.

" Hey, Braxiatel. Time Lord now, aren't you?" Koschei asked the Doctor's big brother.

" Not yet. Still got about ten years left, give or take." Braxiatel answered, giving Koschei a firm handshake.

" Chasing rebels now, though?"

" Well, I'm a pretty mature student at the Academy, and I had a lot of training, so I was given permission by the Time Lord council to work with the Gallifreyan police force sometimes."

The three of them followed Braxiatel into his own room.

" It's been nice talking to you Koschei, but I have a lot of work from the Academy to do, so I'll talk to you three later."

He shut the door to his small room, leaving the three of them alone.

" I think I'll just leave now." Koschei announced.

" No way! You have to at least have dinner with us!" Thana argued.

" Well.. I-"

" You heard her. You remember what she's like when she's made up her mind."

" Alright, alright, I guess I'll stay." Koschei said, defeated. No one really could argue with Thana when she was determined. That's what he liked about her though.

After more than an hour of idle chat that held no importance to Koschei, they were finally called into the dining hall by one of the cooks.

" I guess we'll have to eat without dad." Theta said, trying to sound disappointed. It didn't work, Thana and Koschei both knew that he didn't like his and Thana's father, and to be honest, Thana didn't really care for him much either.

Theta and Thana's father wasn't a bad person by any means, but he did have a tendency for being a bit cold to his family, and he was hardly ever there.

Thana looked over to Koschei while they were eating at the dinner tabel. He was talking to Theta, the both of them ignoring her. She liked Koschei, but she somehow felt so alone even when he was there. Especially when he was there. She didn't know what she wanted from him, but she wanted more. She wanted to be truly noticed by him.

She also wondered how much he changed over the years. And if he was truly changed by the Schism.

" Koschei?"

" Yes?" Koschei answered looking over to Thana.

" Did you really stare into the Schism for two hours?"

Koschei's face took a serious and nearly deadly expression, his eyes saying everything.

" ...Do you really have to ask that? Yes! Yes, I did. So what? Look, can you just mind your business for once!? I don't know if you noticed, but I don't want to talk about what happened since then? Understand?" Koschei snapped. He didn't know what took over him. He immediately regretted it, but the deed was already done.

" Whatever... Jerk.." Thana muttered angrily, leaving the room quickly.

Theta gave Koschei a distressed look and rushed after Thana.

'Dammit, why do I always have to blow it?' Koschei asked himself in the silence of the empty room.

A silent voice then crept into Koschei's head.

'You don't need them. People are a weakness and a disease. They should only be used to further our cause. Don't bother with these two. They're slaves and are perfectly dispensable.'

What the hell? What was that? Koschei desperately needed some air. He quickly got up and even more quickly made it to the living room, before he saw a tall figure in Galifreyan robes enter the room.

" Ulysses!?" Koschei exclaimed.

The noble Time Lord stood in the silent room, an air of authority surrounding him. Ulysses was an old Time Lord, and his age showed on his face more than most, but the hardship and centuries of stress he had faced was even more prominent.

" Where are my sons and daughter?" Ulysses questioned him. Koschei swore every time Ulysses asked something it sounded like he was interrogating someone. That was what Koschei remembered most about Theta's father.

"They are in the back garden, sir." Koschei answered, instantly speaking in a more formal manner.

"...I heard you would be here, Koschei. I can't say that I was excited to see you. You were always a sort of trouble maker, just like Theta. You've straightened out, I hope." Ulysses said this with a look on his face, that said if Koschei wasn't, he would straighten him out himself. And Koschei believed that look.

" I believe I have sir, and may I say it's very nice to be able to talk to you again after all these years."

Ulysses just gave him his usual scowl.

" False sincerity doesn't suit you, Koschei." He replied, walking past Koschei and into the garden.

Theta followed Thana into the garden, stopping in his tracks as he saw her sat on the ground, tears running down her face.

Theta didn't say anything. His sister wasn't one to share her feelings, but Theta felt like being there with her might make her a little feel better.

Theta sat right next to his sister, staring off into the Gallifreyan sky.

Thana then heard a familiar voice in her head.

" Thana? Can you hear me?"

Koschei wasn't sure how well developed her psychic link was, but he assumed she would at least be able to hear him.

" Yes. I- I'm sorry for saying that. I should've known that you were sensitive on that subject-"

" Are you kidding? If anything, I should apologize."

" Wait..Why aren't you talking to me in person?"

" Because I think your father just entered the room."

" What!?" Thana looked to her left, surprised to see her father was right there, adorned in his most formal robes.

" Father!" She said, getting up to giver her father a hug.

" It's very nice to see you Thana. Where is Braxiatel? I heard he had gotten a wound from that idiotic job of his. He should really be focusing on his work rather than wasting his time here, catching up."

" He's in his room, father." Thana answered politely, also immediately changing her tone for her father. Ulysses just had that effect on people. Except for Theta. As Ulysses walked out of the garden into the hall, Theta decided he had something to say to his father.

" It's very nice to see you as well father. I've always enjoyed the extra attention you show towards me." Theta stated sarcastically.

His father sighed.

" You always did want attention. Never knew why, because you hardly did anything to deserve it. Maybe if you actually acted more like your brother and at least attempted to take your studies seriously then maybe people would respect you in some capacity. You might put on a show, but all you do is lay around and goof off with your idiot friends."

Theta chuckled.

" Great pep talk. It's great to be back. You really know how to make someone feel right back at home." Theta then walked past his father and into the house. His father laughed even harder.

"He always was a cry baby.." While Ulysses definitely did have some bias on his son, he really did love him, and he genuinely saw that what he was doing was for the best for Theta, even if no one else thought so.

Thana now completely forgave Koschei. Her father being a jerk made Koschei look like a saint in comparison. At least Koschei was actually upset. In Thana's eyes, her father just thought verbally abusing his son was a gas.

Then again, it's not like Theta didn't deserve at least some of their fathers criticism. He could at times be very difficult and condescending, and he never focused or tried hard at anything, even though he really was very intelligent.

She just hoped Ulysses would lighten up on Theta.

Theta stepped out into the dim glow of late evening, Gallifrey's familiar, and for many, nostalgic red grass between his legs and below his feet.

Some of Theta's best, and some of his worst memories happened in that very field, he could almost see them passing by like moving memories.

" You seem pretty upset." Koschei said from the door of Theta's house.

" I think we've all been pretty upset today." Theta admitted. Koschei guessed Theta was right. Turned out that this heartwarming reunion wasn't all it was supposed to be.

" Yeah, some of us more than others, I suppose." Koschei replied.

" You've come here to cheer me up, have you?"

" No. We all could use some cheering up, not from me though. No, but I think you should talk to your father."

" Maybe you should talk to my sister. Look, I'm ok with what happened, but my sister didn't know know any better. You really hurt her, someone who's missed you for twelve years."

" Like I don't know that? I just-"

" I think you should talk to Thana, and I don't mean any psychic link stuff. I mean face to face."

" What can I say?"

" Your the one that's good with words, figure something out."

" Thank's Theta."

" It's fine man."

" Also, Theta?"

" Yeah?"

" You know your father doesn't hate you, right?"

" Who said he did?"

" I can tell you think so. I think he's just upset with you because he knows you can do better. I know you see me as the smart one, but your a lot smarter than you make yourself out to be."

" Like that changes anything. He's still a stubborn jerk."

" And your not?"

" Fair point. Whatever, enough of this therapy, lets go back inside."

Thana got up and went back inside through the hall and into the living room where she saw Braxiatel and Ulysses conversing.

" Father, this is what I want to do. I am still keeping up with my work at the Academy."

" Barely.."

" And... I just like doing this, helping people. It's not like I'm enlisting myself in the military. I want the power to help people and not just sort out Time Lord business."

" This is not the job for you, Braxiatel. It's only a distraction for people of less ability than you. Maybe your brother would be better suited for it, because it'd be a miracle if he graduated from the Academy. But you have a chance! Don't you see that!"

" I'm not going to give my chance up. You deal with the rebels too, it may be in a different way, but you should know how much this means."

His father sighed.

" It's a waste of time, your job is, you should leave it to Time Lords. Very stubborn, you are...But at least you've got somewhat of a focus on your work."

Ulysses and Briaxiatel then noticed Thana in the hallway.

" Oh, hello Thana. Where is your brother and Koschei?" Ulysses asked her.

" Probably out throwing rocks at birds or passing bystanders or something." Braxiatel joked.

" Your not far off there, mate." Theta replied, walking in with Koschei not far behind.

" We've been waiting for you guys, come on, lets go eat dinner." Braxatiel told them.

They all were now reunited at the dinner table, their issues not necessarily resolved, but pushed back for now. There were bigger things then their petty issues, Koschei thought. Like those rebels. Koschei didn't want to ruin the mood, but he really needed to know what had happened since he left those twelve years ago.

" Ulysses?"

" Yes, Koschei." The elderly Time Lord replied, looking up to Koschei.

" I have missed some things during the years I have been gone. One of those things are these rebels I've been hearing about. Would you care to explain to me who they are."

To Koschei's surprise, Ulysses smiled.

" You've really been 'gone' for these long years, haven't you. Oh, only you and I know...Yes, well let me start at the very beginning. This whole thing started a few short years before most of you lot were born, except for Braxiatel, of course. You remember hearing about the rebels that disbanded about 25 years ago, correct?"

They all nodded. Koschei had heard countless stories from his peers about this. As far as Koschei heard, several decades ago there had been a war of sorts between a small group of rebels and the Gallifreyan government of Time Lords. It had ended about five years before him and Theta were born, but it seemed to have a lasting impression on everyone who was alive then.

Koschei was told by some that these rebels loved causing chaos, and were sadists bent on causing disorder everywhere. He was told by others that they were sick of a government they saw as oppressive, and looked to topple the Time Lord council to introduce a new government with more freedoms. There were rebel sympathizers but they were all branded as renegades as well. Koschei wanted to say that the former was true, but he doubted that the rebels just wanted to destroy Time Lord society for the sake of it.

" Well, in these recent years a new group has been formed by some members of the last one, and they've obtained several new members as well. They haven't done anything huge yet, largely just threats and scattered attacks that mostly failed. But these rebels are starting to worry the council, because it isn't just students and former military men, but also Time Lords as well. The Time Lords in the Citadel are worried that they might be a threat to Time Lord society."

One of their maids then hurried into the dining room from the hall.

" Sir Ulysses, there is a Time Lord at the door for you. He says his name is Doruna." Ulysses's face grew into a solemn expression.

" ...Of course he is. Ok, I'll be outside in second." He told her, slowly getting out of his seat and exiting the room.

" Who's Doruna?" Thana asked Braxiatel.

" He's a Time Lord that works with father a lot on problems concerning the rebels. I assume they're going to be talking about something along those lines right now."

Ulysses looked back at the seemingly endless fields of dark red grass in reflection. It seemed that these attacks had no pattern, and that they would never end.

The truth was, the situation was a lot more dire than the Time Lords in the council made it out to be. These weren't just disorganized failures, these were well thought out terrorist attacks that were planned by military men and Time Lords. And Doruna made it clear that this was only just the beginning.

Ulysses was certain that the rebel group posed a threat not only to the council, but to all of Time Lord society.

A few Time Lords suggested that they extend the break for the Academy, as the Academy was right in the middle of the main Citadel, and held hundreds of Time Lords, so it would most likely be targeted for a rebel attack. But many, including Doruna and Ulysses, advised against this. The scheduled Academy school days hadn't been cancelled in centuries, and this would without a doubt cause a panic.

They agreed that the best solution would be to not alert the citizens, but to keep a low key defense around the perimeter of the Academy and inside it as well.

The Time Lords then unanimously decided that they wouldn't extend the break. But some still thought that the cost would be too big. Would they really risk putting the students in danger of a rebel attack?

Author Notes: This one should be called " The Chapter That Wouldn't End." Seriously, sorry it took so long for anyone who was waiting for the next chapter.

Anyway, If you liked it, or even if you didn't, please leave a review and tell me what you think! :)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Academy.

Authors notes: New Chapter! Sorry I haven't posted in almost two weeks, but now I have enough time to post at least one chapter a week, I promise!

Things to keep in mind. 1. [ ] this will be shown anytime someone refers to Theta/ The Doctor as his actual first name or his last name for obvious reasons. 2. Gallifreyan's don't speak English, so any time someone uses a specifically English term or phrase, it is just a "translation" from the Gallifreyan word that resembles the English phrase or word the closest. With other things too, like objects. For example, if something is a couch, they might call it something different, and it might be slightly different than an Earth couch, but if it does basically the same thing, there's no point calling it something made up.

Ok, let's get on with the story! :)

Koschei looked upon Gallifrey, a tiny speck in the universe, and he was towering above it. The world was his. No, beyond that. The universe? Perhaps all of existence. Everything that ever was and ever would be, packaged nicely and sent to The Master. He would like that.

Such vastness that no one person could comprehend. That was the entirety of Space and Time, and he was in grasping distance of it.

He was so close.

Koschei was standing atop a skyscraper, staring down at the planet below. All he had to do was jump. All he had to do was rid himself of Koschei, let Koschei die, and let The Master in. Koschei, the man would fall, and The Master, the God, would rise.

Koschei now stood in a desolate wasteland, nothing that could have existed on Gallifrey. A distant planet, with nothing but sand and ground stretching as far as the eye could see.

This stretched across the entire planet, but Koschei felt like the desert stretched farther then that. Everything he could see, all of his thoughts, all of his memories, they were all the desert now.

And in the middle of all this was The Master, screaming, crying, begging for mercy as he died at the hands of his best friend. He was betrayed. Or maybe it was the other way around. No, it was both. He was certain.

As The Master, who was also him, (or was what he would turn into. He wasn't sure) was consumed by the fire that was the TARDIS. His hand grabbed out for help as the TARDIS sunk lower and lower into the sand, leaving nothing on the surface but Koschei and Theta. Theta, who just walked away easily. Theta, who left his friend to die. Theta, who needed to die. Theta, who needed to face the horrors that Koschei and The Master did. Theta would pay. Just like everyone else. And then he woke up.

Koschei nearly jumped out of bed, sweating, almost gasping for air as his memory of the dream was already slipping away.

He looked around the room. Nothing was there, he didn't know why he expected something to be there. Maybe it was The Master. Koschei had no idea who that was, but that name kept coming up from the back of his mind, almost like it held some significance to him, which it didn't.

Koschei needed to lay down. As he laid back down on the bed, he closed his eyes, again drifting into sleep. He then felt something hit his head.

Koschei opened his eyes to see Theta at the door, showing his usual snarky grin.

"We need to be at the Way Station in an hour. And by the way, breakfasts ready." Theta said cheerily, leaving the room.

It had been two days since Theta and Koschei arrived back home, and though Koschei only agreed to stay for dinner, Thana and Theta convinced (Though Koschei thought it was more like forced) him to stay with them until the break was over. Not much happened over these days, except Braxiatel got out of his wheel chair, but he was now walking with a cane. Today was the first day of the Academy, Koschei remembered.

Koschei put a shirt and pants on and made his way into the dining room, where Braxiatel, Theta and Thana were sitting at the table, conversing and eating breakfast.

Koschei let out a relieved sigh. Everyone seemed to be in such a good mood compared to the last night. He wanted it to stay like this, though he knew it wouldn't. Good things never lasted for Koschei. He learned that from personal experience.

Koschei sat down at the table, his meal already there.

"Good morning." Braxiatel said.

"Mornin'." Theta said.

"Bleh..."

Thana looked tired, barely looking like she was registering reality. Thana, like Koschei, had only just got out of bed, and she appeared like she was just barely awake. Her hair was a mess, looking like she just got attacked by a band of rabid raccoons. Though no one in the room knew what a raccoon was at the time.

"Almost forgot how much a morning person you are." Koschei joked.

Thana looked up, suddenly noticing that Koschei was there.

"Oh, hello Koschei." Thana said happily as Koschei sat next to her, giving him a tired smile.

"Where's Ulysses?" Koschei asked.

"He's a professor at the Academy, so he left pretty early." Braxiatel answered. "Also, did you pack everything?"

"Everything that they told me I would need. So what, we just go to the way station and we'll be at the Academy?"

"We'll be teleported to the way station near the Academy, yes. For some reason, The Academy doesn't have its own public teleporter."

"Sleep well?" Thana asked, noticing the look on Koschei's face.

"Yeah, I guess. I suppose I'm just nervous, that's all."

Thana didn't buy it. Koschei looked like he had something really worrying on his mind, and that worried her. She wasn't going to pressure him though.

Theta was cheerily conversing with Braxiatel, not noticing Koschei.

"We should get a move on, everybody. We need to be at the Way Station soon, so we let's all get our things and go." Braxiatel announced to the group of friends.

"Why don't you guys live in the Citadel? We'd be at the Academy much faster if we just took a personal teleport or vehicle from there."

Koschei asked Thana this as they both got out of their seats and left the room.

"Mother never liked it in the Citadel, so she convinced Father to live out here. Plus, if we lived in the Citadel we'd have to be taken care of by Time Lords instead of having the freedom of looking after ourselves." Thana answered.

"Being taken of care by Time Lords for hundreds of years until you graduate isn't exactly my idea of fun." Theta commented as he went into his room in the hall.

'Theta will kill you. Remember that the next time you call him friend. And remember me. I am the Master.'

There it was again. Those words appearing in his mind. Was he getting psychic messages from someone near? No. This felt different. These were the Master's words. Koschei would remember this.

Koschei, Theta, Thana and Braxiatel all arrived at the Way Station, several dozen people, including a couple of students, waiting there to be teleported into the Citadel. Some waiting for education, some for work, and some for the destruction of Time Lord society. Koschei didn't notice those people, and neither did anyone else.

"So, what do we do now?"

"We just stand in this platform. We'll be teleported in soon."

A bright, green light soon encompassed the entire group of Gallifreyan's, seeming only to get brighter and brighter, before it soon diminished leaving nothing there.

Koschei opened his eyes, and they were all standing in the Way Station, but a different one. Above them, the crowd saw several towering sky scrapers and machines, and below them they saw the lower part of the Citadel, still remaining just as enormous as Koschei remembered it.

"Now, if we get on this train then we'll be taken to the train transport at the back entrance of the Academy." Theta mentioned.

Trains were very common on Gallifrey, and were a convenient way to get somewhere within the city if someone wasn't near a private teleport.

"The Academy has a train transport but not a Way Station?" Koschei asked.

Braxiatel then spoke up.

"Think of it this way... Anyone can teleport from inside the Academy to other parts of the school, but not everyone can teleport into the Academy."

The train stopped at the train transport in the middle of a large garden, where several students were hanging about and conversing. Koschei and the others exited the train and stepped off into the stone passageway that led into the Academy.

At the entrance were two guards holding guns, standing next to a small machine near the door.

"Names?" One of the guards asked as Koschei and the others approached them.

"Braxiatel [ ], and my siblings Thana and [ ]."

The guard looked to Koschei.

"I am Koschei [ ]."

The guard typed into the machine and four cards popped out.

"Your names were in the system, so here's your student's cards."

He handed them their cards and both guards moved out of the way, letting the four students into the school.

"You've been going to the Academy, why don't you already have cards?" Koschei asked.

"We get new ones every year for safety purposes." Theta told him.

"I once made Thana a doll house out of my used student cards." Braxiatel said.

They all made it into a long, wide hall, the walls decorate with pictures of former Academy professors and famous Time Lords.

A Time Lord dressed in his professor's robes approached the group of students, stopping them in their tracks.

"Hello, I am Professor Melbourne." He said shaking Koschei's hand.

"I'm happy to see you three as well." He seemed to know Thana and her brothers.

"Koschei is new here, you wouldn't mind showing him to his dorm would you?" Braxiatel asked.

"Well, I've kind of got my hands full right now, but I'll get another one of my students to escort you Koschei."

As a group of students left a room, the professor called to one of them to come over there.

A tall, dark skinned young man walked over to them, who was the only student they saw that day to be in uniform, looking rather reluctant to do anything Melbourne said.

"What do you want?" Magnus asked.

"Magnus, I would like you to escort Koschei around the Academy.

"The entire Academy!?"

"No, of course not. That would take months, even if you didn't take any breaks. No, I just want you to escort him to his starting classes and his dorm. Koschei, you should have your classes and dorm number digitally imprinted into your student-cards data core."

"Yeah, okay." He said as Melbourne left the group of students.

"Give me that." Magnus told Koschei as Koschei got out his student card, taking it from his hand and looking at it.

"... Yeah, okay, let's go." Magnus said, giving Koschei back his card and leading him to his classes.

"We better get in our robes." Braxiatel advised them, the three of them separating to go to their dorms.

Magnus lead Koschei into a large round room on the twenty-second floor, classes at each corner of the room and two exits into two halls, in front of them and behind them.

"That" Magnus started, pointing towards the door to the far right corner. "Is the TARDIS cradle where they teach students to fix and drive a TARDIS. Most Time Lords don't even use TARDIS's anymore because of Time Lord Law, though, so..."

Magnus seemed to be really frustrated since Koschei met him. He reminded Koschei of himself up to a few years after he left that day. Or a slightly angrier Theta.

"Okay, so we'll be going to the fiftieth floor. That's where your dorm is. First year students would be on the fortieth floor, but since your card says you've had teaching outside of the Academy.. Well, you get the idea. C'mon, move it." Magnus said, with his usual attitude of not giving a crap.

They went down the hall and into another small teleport station. They stepped on the mini platform and were instantly transported to a similar looking hall, but with the walls lined with dorm rooms for students of Koschei's level.

Magnus lead Koschei down the hall and into one of the many small rooms.

"All you have to do is put your card into this slot and you'll get in."

Koschei inserted his card into the slot and the door opened.

Koschei and Magnus were met with a large room with furniture and a few small rooms as well as some entertainment technology tucked into the far corner.

"Oh, Time Lord technology..." Magnus said as they entered the bigger on the inside room.

"Hey, you guys my new roommates?"

Koschei and Magnus looked over to a young man laying lazily on a couch at the back of the room. Unlike, Koschei and Magnus, who were reasonably well built, he was skinny, more like Theta's build, and he had messy brown hair and brown eyes.

"Hello, I'm Koschei. This is Magnus, but he's not our roommate." Koschei reached out a hand.

"Hey, I'm Rallon. By the way, I don't do handshakes, since I don't normally touch other males. No disrespect though." Koschei's new roommate said.

Before Koschei could say anything, Rallon started talking again.

"It's interesting isn't it? How the handshake is such a universally known form of greet. Several planets that have never met do this! What's with intelligent organisms and wanting to touch other intelligent beings, I've no idea. I prefer the way those…uh, what are they called? Japanese from Earth do it. They bow, now that's something I can get behind. Sorry, I kind of tend to ramble, don't I?

"Just a bit..." Koschei said.

"Well, I guess I'll see you guys around then." Magnus said, leaving the two of them.

"So, what've you been doing here?"

"I've kind of just been laying here for a few hours. We'll be called to an assembly in a few more hours, then we'll be off to dinner and back to our dorms. We have classes tomorrow, so look forward to that. Or don't. I don't care."

"I'll just sit here until Millennia undoubtedly sweeps me off and makes me do some other unnecessary task for today. As you can see, I'm very comfortable right now, so don't talk to me or anything for a few hours." Rallon continued, shutting his eyes.

As Koschei sat down, Rallon started talking again.

"Oh, by the way, your sharing a room with my other roommate." Rallon said, pointing to the room next to his.

"Oh, is he new too?"

"No, we've been roommates for seven years, I think. I've just never bothered asking his name."

Koschei then gathered his things and carried them into his room, plopping them all onto the floor. Koschei climbed up onto the top bunk and shut his eyes, falling into unconsciousness.

Koschei opened his eyes to Rallon looking up at him, who was also now in a suit.

"Assembly's going to start. Come with me first, before we go."

Koschei came down from the top bunk and followed Rallon out of their dorm and into their hallway, where other students were leaving.

"Millennia wanted to go with me for some reason, so we need to pick her up at her dorm."

"Not to be rude, but why do you want me to come with you?"

"It's alright. Perfectly logical question. I just assumed that you thought I was so cool that you wanted to follow me around everywhere." Rallon said, leaving for Millennia's room.

Koschei couldn't tell if he was joking or not, but decided to follow Rallon anyway.

They made it into the girl's dorms, making their way to a specific door and knocking.

A blue haired girl with bright blue eyes and gentle, pale skin opened the door, smiling when she saw Rallon. She was shorter than Koschei and Magnus, but she was considerably taller than Rallon.

"Hey Rallon! Who's your friend?" She said cheerily.

"I'm Koschei. It's very nice to meet you." He said, smiling and shaking her hand. He also noticed that she was wearing an emerald green dress.

"Finally, a friend of his that acts remotely normal! You need to hang out with people like him, or that Theta guy we met."

"Every time you talk, it's like I can hear a million small animals being mutilated, you know that, right?"

"I love you too." She said as they left the room and made their way to the Academy assembly hall.

Koschei couldn't help but notice he was the only one of them that wasn't dressed up.

"Are we supposed to wear more...?"

"Fancy dress? No, unless you were one of the top students from last year." Millennia told him.

"So, you both are two of the top students in the school…very impressive." Koschei complimented the both of them.

"Not really..." Rallon said.

"The dress is lovely Millennia, but wouldn't it make more sense to wear a dress that matches your hair and eyes? Since they stick out so much."

Koschei did notice her natural blue hair, as most people did. Other colors of hair like blue, while not exactly rare or unheard of, weren't too common on Gallifrey.

"That's what I said." Rallon commented.

"I guess so. But that's what everyone would expect isn't it?" Millennia said. Koschei couldn't exactly argue with that logic.

The three of them, along with hundreds of other students, went to one of the few assembly halls. Since the Academy was the definitive source for knowledge and the steps towards becoming a Time Lord, it had to be really big to compensate for the thousands upon thousands of students who attended at a time.

That was all fine and good, but it made it a lot harder for Koschei and the others to find a teleport to the assembly hall.

"It's over there." Millennia said, pointing to a platform at the end of the hall.

They, along with several other students, got on the platform where they transported to another teleport platform behind a row of bleachers. The three of them went around and sat on the bleachers next to hundreds of other students of that year.

"We're going to be called up in about a half hour." Rallon told Koschei.

The assembly hall was a giant circular room with the perimeter covered with bleachers full of students of each year group. Koschei and the others were years twelve through forty-two.

In the middle of the room was a big podium with a tall torch at each end. Three Time Lords stepped up and the oldest of the three spoke up as he pulled a white orb out of his pocket and spoke through it, his voice projecting through the entire room.

Koschei looked over and saw Theta, who was already sleeping before the assembly even officially started. He saw Thana next, who was awake, but didn't really seem to be paying much attention to what the Time Lord was saying. For the next two hours or so, the Time Lord droned on and on about what they were going to do as students, Time Lord Apprentices, and what they were expected to do. Blah blah blah…Koschei briefly felt like he was going to fall asleep as well. Millennium, Rallon, and dozens of other top students eventually lined up on the stage and… Koschei fell asleep.

Koschei woke up as the students filed out of the assembly hall.

"Wake up, otherwise I'm carrying you by your hair." Theta said as he and Thana walked down the steps and into the dining hall. Koschei let out a heavy yawn and made his way into the dining hall with Rallon and Millennia.

"I'm sorry for uh, well falling asleep during-"Koschei started to apologize, but Rallon stopped him.

"It's fine. The assembly is always this boring."

"Don't worry, Koschei. We only have a few hundred of these to go." Millennia said.

"Wahoo…" Koschei said sarcastically.

The three of them, as well as Theta and Thana all sat down at one of the tables, a buffet laying on all of the tables in the dining hall.

"So, Koschei you already made some friends. Wait aren't you one that doesn't touch people?" Koschei asked referring to Rallon.

"No, I don't touch men. Or ever want to be touched by a man." Rallon corrected him.

"Okay…" Theta said.

"Don't worry, he's a freak, but he's harmless." Millennia assured him.

"I'm the freak! What about you? You… uh, yeah you have a point." Rallon admitted.

"Hey, aren't you rich?" Theta suddenly asked Millennia. Millennia laughed.

"My family is rich. I'm not allowed to touch any of the money, though."

"How is your family rich anyway? I thought Time Lords and soldiers only are only given certain living items from the council these days. And I doubt you could get rich off of being part of the Gallifreyan police." Koschei said.

"There's other jobs for Gallifreyan's too, not all other jobs are handled by machines here. You can only take up these jobs once you've served some time as a Time Lord. My family helped design the matrix. Now we just live off the money." Millennia said.

Koschei winced as a strong feeling of pain hit his head, and he recognized the words in his head again. They said "Sleep for now." Koschei then stood up and got out of his seat.

"I'm not hungry. I think I'll just head back to my dorm." Koschei announced.

"Are you sure?" Theta asked.

"Yeah, I am." Koschei left the table, his food uneaten, and left to his dorm.

Koschei laid down on his new bed, staring up at the black ceiling, thinking.

"What's happening?"

Authors Notes: Sorry this chapter was so long and boring, lol. These chapters have just been to establish characters and stuff. More actual things will happen in the upcoming chapters.

Did you enjoy it? If you did or didn't, give a review why you thought so. Any question or comment I'll respond to in the next chapter. Now, to respond to a review from last chapter.

Gallifreyan. Hats: Thank you so much! Hope you liked this chapter as well!

Next Chapter: Theta's job.


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